Memorandum submitted by Mr Joe Burlington
(CRED 33)
BACKGROUND AND
EXPERIENCE
I am Chairman of South Somerset Climate Action,
a group established a year ago which has met every month since.
In April, we created an audience of 160 people to hear the journalist,
Rosie Boycott, and Mayer Hillman, author of How we can save
the planet.
All 150 seats at our local theatre will be filled
for our screening of Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth on
Saturday (13 January) and we have booked another screening for
4 February. Both will be followed by discussions.
I have a degree in Physics and have had a career
divided between teaching and working for youth and third world
charities including 100+ presentations to audiences.
THE KIND
OF ISSUE
I WOULD LIKE
TO RAISE
Few parliamentarians appear to understand even
quite straight forward scientific concepts. Both the Prime Minister
and David Miliband have admitted their lack of scientific understanding
and it shows; they do not know the questions to ask nor can they
assess properly the information they receive. What is worse, they
filter what they hear and ignore "inconvenient truths".
At least the Cabinet Minister responsible needs to have a personal
grasp of the science.
The urgency of the situation needs to be stressed
via a public information blitz (Clunk, click every trip; Is your
journey really necessary?) SARS was a major threat to Hong Kong.
A public information campaign was a crucial tool in defeating
it.
We need something like a State of Emergency
for Britain to take unilateral action in our own long-term interests.
International negotiations might well be kicked into motion by
appropriate actions which other nations would follow. Every country
has its scientists, campaigners and concerned citizens waiting
for an energy-profligate country such as ours to give a lead.
The proposal of a 90% cut by 2030 on a ski-jump
profile is the only one which makes any sense. (Immediate large
cuts on an urgent time schedule—It will get harder later.)
It is stupid to wait for a catastrophe when we can create sudden
dramatic change in our behaviour (a "benestrophe" perhaps,
if the classics people will allow a mixture of Latin and Greek).
This can have numerous benefits to the safety and health of our
children, the strength of our communities, etc.
Dramatic proclamations are required of policies
which will take immediate effect and have obvious impacts—ban
flood lights, patio heaters, lighting on advertising hoardings;
forbid retail outlets to show any lights unless vital for security
and give local authorities the power to enforce the restriction.
Existing speed limits and building regulations
should be enforced with the threat of dramatic penalties for infringements.
As soon as practicable, lower speed limits and passivhaus building
standards should be introduced as though our children's lives
depended on it—which they do! Lower speed limits can help
break our addiction to long distance travel, allow young children
some of the freedom which older people enjoyed in their childhood.
Like the London Congestion Charge, they need to be introduced
boldly with compensating measures to aid the transition. How many
nurses and teachers travel from Watford to Dartford while their
colleagues grind their way the other way round the M25? Could
a computer agency sort out some of the nonsense?
AIRPORT AND
ROAD CONSTRUCTION
SHOULD ALL
BE HALTED
IMMEDIATELY
Carbon Rationing is the only sensible way forward
that I have heard. Surely petrol coupons could be introduced within
a month and a scheme for rationing gas and electricity via bills
within three or four months. Even if the first efforts are crude,
it will send out the necessary messages and improvements, based
on credit cards perhaps, which can be introduced when they are
ready.
I have heard that the first one metre rise in
sea level will destroy 30% of the world's agricultural land. We
should be growing and storing as much as we can (See Joseph's
biblical advice to Pharaoh). 600 square kilometres of Somerset
is below sea level (according to DEFRA).
We should also be supporting third-world countries
along the lines of the Contraction and Convergence Scheme but
we do not need to wait. Commonwealth countries could receive immediate
assistance. Our future will depend on their cooperation. Our future
will be impossible if they all try to drive and fly as much as
we do.
We have had the European heatwave of 2003, floods
and droughts in the UK and very much worse in Africa and now very
seriously in Australia. All this with a temperature rise of 0.6
degrees above pre-industrial levels.
New Scientist magazine published an article
some months ago which showed that temperatures will rise, on average,
by something like 12 degrees if we burn all the fossil fuels on
the planet.
Now would be a good time to stop!
Mr Joe Burlington
January 2007
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